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For those of you happily married/in a partnership…

123 replies

Shoootforthestars · 12/04/2026 19:44

What nice/loving/thoughtful things does your husband do for you for no reason other than he wants to?

Id be interested to hear what a loving marriage/partnership sounds like as I don’t think I’m in one…

OP posts:
TeenLifeMum · 12/04/2026 22:31

He shares the mental load and sees me as an equal even when we had vastly different earnings.

SleepsAThingOfThePast · 12/04/2026 22:31

Arranges work to do the morning school run despite me being at home majority of the time.
Tea in bed every morning and every night.

cocoromo · 12/04/2026 22:35

My husband is even tempted and kind natured and wonderful with our children. For me he makes me coffee in bed every morning - drives me around and picks me up when needed. Pulls his weight in the house, if he’s at the shop he will bring me a little treat, and always gives me the “best” bits such as the eggs/ meat bigger slice of cake ect. It sound like your not with the right person op

MaidOfSteel · 12/04/2026 22:37

He always puts me first. Even when I tell him not to. He tells me he loves me a dozen times a day! Tells me I’m beautiful and how much he still fancies me, even after 20 years.
He brings me my breakfast in bed pretty much every day. I have chronic pain and mornings are the worst. If he’s out of the house, he calls me to remind me to take my medication at the right times. Checks on me when I’m in the shower to make sure I’m safe, as I’ve had a few falls.
I think it’s just little things like this that show me he’s always thinking about me. That’s pretty special, I reckon.

Happyjoe · 12/04/2026 23:01

Shoootforthestars · 12/04/2026 19:58

This really hit home. We have three young children and everything has become a competition of ‘well I do this and you don’t’ or ‘that was your fault’. I’m not a saint, I know I’m guilty of it too, and we both take each other for granted but I can’t remember the last time I felt loved by him.

i just watched a video of this man being asked who his hero is and he said his wife, and I couldn’t ever imagine my husband saying that and it made me sob and sob.

You both sound unhappy, hence the peeing competition between you. Life can't be easy though with 3 youngsters? Do you both have any time for just the two of you? Or even to decompress?

Wondering if any way you can ask family for help on occasion so you can go out and reconnect. I presume it wasn't always like this. Will take effort from both of you for it to work though and yeah, the keeping tabs and blame game doesn't help at all, creates resentment. I know because my unhappy partner is doing the same to me and has done for a while (he lost his beloved dad last summer) so I know why he's in a crappy place. Good luck, hope you can find a way.

55notout · 12/04/2026 23:12

Absolutely agree it’s the small things.

we’ve just celebrated our wedding anniversary. The night before he apologised as he hadn’t bought a card/gift.

we had already booked a table for dinner so it wasn’t that he forgot. He has had a big family bereavement that has taken his time/energy this year and it wouldn’t even occur to me that him forgetting was a reflection on our relationship.

we saw a comedian a while ago who has been married for ages and just said something along the lines of ‘we’re here, we’re in. Nobody is going anywhere’ and this really resonated with us. We’re a team.

today I had a lie in then went horse riding. He went cycling then did a food shop and cooked a roast dinner. I tidied up. No drama. No point scoring. No squabbling. Walked the dogs together, chatted about the week ahead.

We just get on. At dinner last night we didn’t run out of conversation. We make each other laugh. We share future goals. It’s just a really reliable place to be.

hope that makes sense!

mushypeasontoast · 12/04/2026 23:38

Dh and I have been together for 33 years now, and we communicate well. We do little things for each other- the last time I needed to take the car on a long journey, dh hopped up the screenwriter and checked oil etc for me. When I've been unwell, he fusses like an old maid- I was waiting on a cancer test result(clear) and mentioned that my socks had seemingly disappeared- a new pack arrived a couple of days later.

It hasn't always ben like this though, having small children is hard. Throw in work, finances, lack of sleep, outside opinions,a lack of time and not always being on the same page and conversations become difficult.

We had some very difficult times, I'm pretty opinionated and outspoken and some of our rows disagreements were shouting. Fundamentally though, neither of us are perfect individuals, but we work well as a team, and love and care for each other very much.

I asked myself in the difficult bits, is my life better or worse with him in it. For me, even in the hard times it was better with, if not then I would have walked away.

Oliack1417 · 12/04/2026 23:48

He will fill my car with petrol when he knows I have a trip, sometimes getting up early to do it before I leave. He will defrost my car on icy mornings. He does way more of the kids taxi-ing and taking parties - especially the hard work ones because he knows I hate them. He never counts or says it’s my turn. He notices when I’m stressed by the kids, and will announce that they’re going to the park etc, ‘to give mummy some quiet time’. He’s a provider and a care taker and he is a very kind person.

SassyButClassy · 13/04/2026 05:49

He makes me coffee. He checks in on me all day. He finds sales on things I love and shows them to me because he knows I'm a skinflint but always says, "You don't have to wait for sales. If you like something, just go get it."

He goes clothes shopping with me. He does laundry, he cleans the kitchen, he buys toys for my dogs because he knows this makes me happy. He lets me rabbit his ear off about any and everything, no matter what the subject matter is or whatever the time of day or night.

If I'm going on a trip, he puts the destination in the sat nav for me and makes sure the tank is always full. I can't think of anything he doesn't do for me.

I'll probably have to be nice to him even though I'm low on sleep 😜

CurlewKate · 13/04/2026 06:40

We’re nice to each other. We don’t compete or tally keep. We treat each other the way we would like to be treated.
If he knows I’m going out, he puts the heating and the heated seat on in the car for me. The first time he did this when I knew he was in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean on a sailing boat I briefly thought I had gone mad! 😂

sesquipedalian · 13/04/2026 06:54

Brings me a cup of tea every morning. Runs round after my DC (who are not his) giving lifts etc. Helps in the house. Does hoovering etc while I’m cooking. Is pleased to see me when I come home after being out. Is utterly reliable (I particularly appreciate this after having been with my ex who absolutely wasn’t). Just makes life better - it’s not a competition or me being a one-man band, as it was when I was married to my ex. I know he’s always there for me as I am for him.

JulietteHasAGun · 13/04/2026 07:06

Dh “does” nothing for me routinely such as making me coffee or checking in on me. I would say though we are happily married. He certainly pulls his weight round the house. He is very good at looking after me if I’m poorly. If I ask him to do something for me he will do it. We don’t argue or nitpick each other and are both generally quite laid back.

coolcahuna · 13/04/2026 07:11

He makes me coffee, listens to me, supports me and more than does his bit at home. He's extremely kind and I same as another poster, there's no competition just looks after me and is nice to me

RoseField1 · 13/04/2026 07:15

Buys me flowers every week
Asks me how I slept every morning
Asks me how my day is going/how it went
Puts a blanket on me when I'm chilly.
checks in with me before making plans at the weekends to make sure they don't clash with mine.
brings me tea in bed if he gets up first
Oh loads of little things. He's lovely. I'm very nice to him too. We are both on second marriages and both had relationships where we were not always nice to each other and we really value that. Acceptance and kindness, above all.

tofumad · 13/04/2026 07:22

Firesidechatter · 12/04/2026 21:40

I’m not going to lie, I’ve been very happily married for a long time , but some of this sounds utterly suffocating,

The thing is, it's not about what makes you happy, it's about what makes other people happy. So what's suffocating to you is close and loving to someone else.

socks1107 · 13/04/2026 07:25

Helps out at home equally, makes time for me, is genuinely interested in my life like work etc, makes me cups of tea all day when wfh.
most of all he treats me as his best friend and equal

AgnesX · 13/04/2026 07:37

Makes me lunch every day, regardless of whether I'm working from home or not.

Buys me jelly babies 😘

EasterlyDirection · 13/04/2026 07:38

Mine doesn't do a lot of the small stuff mentioned here and I wouldn't want him to TBH, in fact we spend a lot our spare time apart but that's one of things I love having had a possessive ex partner who didn't like me going anywhere without him, always clung to my side at parties etc.

So for me, allows me to be my own person, never resents me going out, will drop anything to pick up the DCs, or stay up till they are home (young adults) and doesn't expect me to just do it all, same when they were young, did more than his share of nursery and school runs, sick days etc. He doesn't mind me going out with male friends, gets on well with all my friends so if we go out in a group I'm free to sit at the other end of the table knowing he will be just fine whichever friends he is sitting with. Same with my family, he has just slotted in and me to his, often goes to see my Dad in his care home when I'm too tired or dealing with Mum. He'll drop everything if I need help with something too, I had a puncture just after he left for work the other week and he came back to help change the wheel, no complaint, I didn't ask him to, just called to say I had a puncture.

But we did have competitive tiredness issues when the DCs were young definitely. A lot of bickering. But ALWAYS respectful, when we argue it's about the actions not the people, never call names or use disrespectful language towards one another, so if we are going "PLEASE put the vacuum away when you have finished instead of leaving it out" we'd never call each other lazy or whatever.

ChocolateBiscuitsandaCuppa · 13/04/2026 07:38

Brings me tea in the morning.
Does all the supermarket shopping (even though he hates it) so I don't have to deal with crowds.
Supports my truly bonkers (and perfect to me) family.
Adores me even though I've put on so much weight.
And most recently, I've been really sick and am waiting for more surgery. I felt bad about not being able to support one of my best friends at the Brighton marathon yesterday, so he went out on his own and got sunburnt supporting her for me.
There are more.

I chose a lot of wrong ones before I sorted myself out. I wish I'd met him first.

RosesAndHellebores · 13/04/2026 07:50

@EasterlyDirection raises a very important point about independence and trust. Both exist is strong relationships. My DH never came to parents' evenings, in part because he trusted me to do it. We are devoted but co-exist. We've probably been to the supermarket together a handful of times - why would we both waste time. One would take the DC to the park, the other wpuld do something useful or for self.

It has surprised me and probably shpuldn't have, that it has been the couples who seemed.to live in each others' pockets who split.

RinielUrban · 13/04/2026 07:56

Makes a cracking coffee, wants to spend time with me, if I’m out having a drink he always takes me and picks me up. Tells me he thinks I’m lovely and kind. We have the best laughs together. If we have a disagreement we get over it quickly. I love the way he helps the kids.
and much more

hjskdhu88649 · 13/04/2026 08:01

RosesAndHellebores · 13/04/2026 07:50

@EasterlyDirection raises a very important point about independence and trust. Both exist is strong relationships. My DH never came to parents' evenings, in part because he trusted me to do it. We are devoted but co-exist. We've probably been to the supermarket together a handful of times - why would we both waste time. One would take the DC to the park, the other wpuld do something useful or for self.

It has surprised me and probably shpuldn't have, that it has been the couples who seemed.to live in each others' pockets who split.

I agree to the sentiment though am surprised at the example. Parents evenings are something we do together not because we don’t ‘trust’ the other to do it, but because we are both invested in our children and genuinely want to be there to experience first hand. It’s interesting talking afterwards as we can interpret teachers differently, and it’s nice getting cross together at some things teacher have said ha.

Miordle · 13/04/2026 08:03

I think you've had loads of examples now, @Shoootforthestars- what has caused everything to be a competition in your marriage? It sounds like a lot of resentment. It's interesting that everyone mentions having morning drinks and breakfast made, receiving gifts, but intimacy is seldom mentioned. My DH does a lot for me and around the house and for the kids, but we don't have a good marriage as we have no intimacy, and I'm the one who provides for the family financially which is causing huge problems. If we were closer and we both brought in a joint income we would be happier.

RosesAndHellebores · 13/04/2026 08:06

hjskdhu88649 · 13/04/2026 08:01

I agree to the sentiment though am surprised at the example. Parents evenings are something we do together not because we don’t ‘trust’ the other to do it, but because we are both invested in our children and genuinely want to be there to experience first hand. It’s interesting talking afterwards as we can interpret teachers differently, and it’s nice getting cross together at some things teacher have said ha.

Should have said he was/is a workaholic. Actually he did come once, when ds hit problems. Result - ds moved schools because dh saw right through the issue.

His workaholism funded the best independent day schools for the dc.

Ajourneyonesarth · 13/04/2026 08:07

We got together verrrrry young. And I was in a non loving and selfish relationship with him until I hit mid 30s!

We had a big fall out, spent hours talking, realised we were both twits and quite immature! Grown up together really. Like friends!

This was pivotal, we fell into a deeper love (probably what most people feel at the beginning 😂!) and we've been really happy ever since.

I think that communication is everything. And the fact we're both just human, doing our best, choosing each other everyday.

Plus he makes me a gorgeous cuppa every morning and he doesn't let me ever feel "stress" or "overwhelm".

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